The Holocaust

Who was Adolf Hitler?

• A Failed Artist
• Served in World War I
• Joined the German Workers Party in 1919, when it had only 40 members

• By 1921, when he became chairman of the renamed National Socialist German Workers Party(Nazis), it had 3000.
• In 1923, Hitler burst into a beer hall and announced his overthrow of the government. This was known as the Beer Hall Putsch.
• His attempt failed and he was sentenced to five years in prison
• He served only nine months in 1924, during which he wrote Mein Kampf
• By 1932, over a third of Germany was voting for a Nazi candidate in elections.
• In 1933, Hitler became Chancellor. He began to consolidate his power by rewriting German law to give him and his party more power.
• By the next year, the Nazis were the undisputed leaders of Germany.